Rothschild continues building alliances

Rothschild will extend its program of alliances, following the success of its venture with US-based Putnam Investments.

The group's Australian funds management operations is on the verge of announcing an international listed property fund to be managed by an overseas manager. It is also considering alliances in private equity and diversified fixed income.

RAAM managing director Peter Martin says talks with listed property groups around the world are underway, and due diligence is currently being done on three companies. He says Rothschild expects to announce a listed property conpany alliance within six months.

The change in strategic direction for Rothschild follows the successful alliance with Putnam which has already yielded $1 billion inflows in its first year. Rothschild's international funds now account for $1.9 billion, surpassing earlier forecasts.

Rothschild Australia Asset Management's (RAAM) new head of institutional business, Patricia Curtin, says the lion's share of the $1.9 billion is in the Discovery Core product, a retail and wholesale fund that sits between the two other international wholesale products, the Discovery Value and the Discovery Growth fund.

"The Discovery Core is not biased towards value or growth, but looks at product evaluations," Curtin says.

RAAM associate director, international equities, David Lugton, says the Discovery Core portfolio is overweight in the financial sector, including a large representation in insurance companies, and also holds significant holdings in healthcare and energy. The fund remains underweight and cautious in technology, Lugton says.